BRIGHT AND BOLD: Cove artist Katherine Treffinger is showing her work this month at The Potterâs House.

LA GRANDE – The warm and exotic ceramic art of Fernanda “Nanda” Marcolla-Van Houten, formerly of Sao Paulo, Brazil, will be featured at the Third Thursday Art Walk May 15 at the Mitre’s Touch.

An art student on the dean’s list at EOU, Nanda has studied ceramics extensively under Peter Johnson, exploring ceramic sculpture, glazing, and advanced ceramics for the past year. She likes to incorporate designs from her native country into her art, such as the broad leaves of the rainforest, bold flower blossoms, weave patterns and geometric designs from the ancient Brazilian Indians.

The result is a bold and tropical representation of Brazil, adding a natural and organic warmth to any sun-lit kitchen – fruit bowls, coffee mugs, plates and small bowls, vases, and table top centerpieces. Each is glazed individually and takes on a gloss or matte finish all its own, depending upon the type of clay and chemicals used in the process, said Nanda.

“I’ve been experimenting with different oxides and new colors for glazing. Sometimes the glaze breaks with brown colors over my designs. It’s all about chemistry,” Nanda said.

Nanda and her husband, Gary, have created an art studio on the first floor level of their 1106 Alder St. home. The room’s ambiance reflects her native country of Brazil and an ancestry of talented artists.

“My own children are very artistic too,” she said.

Pedro, a junior at Imbler High School is a talented musician, and Tiffany, a second grader at

La Grande Central, exhibits an early talent at drawing.

Nanda will continue her art studies this coming fall at EOU which will include relief printing taught by Kathelene Galloway and beginner’s painting by Jessica Plattner. She enjoys drawing and recently completed a large portrait of her father, Fernando Marcolla, who lives in Brazil.

The Nanda Brazil studio is one of the stops during this coming September’s “Studio Tour” and can be visited at www.nandabrazil.com The Mitre’s Touch, 1414 Adams Ave., welcomes all to view the ceramic art of Nanda between 5 and 8 p.m. May 15 and enjoy refreshments at Third Thursday’s Art Walk.

The Potter’s House, 1601 Sixth St., will feature the paintings of Katherine Treffinger during this month’s Third Thursday Art Walk

Katherine is a Cove-based artist.She has remodeled the “Old Cove Store” into her studio and living space. Her oil paintings and drawings have shown in venues throughout the West, and are in collections across the country.

Katherine’s focus is figurative andabstract. She is often referred to as a colorist, using bold colorsin an expressive manner. She very seldom plans out a painting or drawing,looking instead to become an observer of what happens through theprocess of applying paint or other art materials to a surface of canvasor paper.

“Quite often,” she says, “the more ‘lost’ I feel during apainting or drawing, the more satisfied I am with the outcome.It’s shaky ground, a gamble at times, but it can be really fun.”

She spent her childhood in Sausalito, Calif., in the ’50s. It was a magical place, she said, teeming with artists and creative expression. It was a time when San Francisco, Berkeley and Sausalito were home to the abstract expressionist and Bay Area Figurative Movement.

Her missing toys were found in the neighbor’s sculptures.

She was often on tiptoes, peering into the windows of nearby studios and coffeehouses. She thrived in the wondrous mystery of that world, she said.

Later, as an adult, she had the good fortune to spend time in the studio of Joseph Raffael as his friend, and for a short while, his assistant. She said she was greatly influenced by his enthusiasm, dedication and his ability to create beauty before she realized that she wanted to be an artist herself.

Katherine is primarily self taught. She took a couple of community college artclasses and took classes at The Drawing Studio in Portland. She moved to Cove 1 1/2 years ago from Portland where she had lived since 1999.

Her emergence as a professional artist happened in Portland where she was blessedto be favored by an art critic for her abstract work.

Before that, she was in Northern California, primarily the San Francisco Bay Area where she grew up.Katherine said she cameto the awareness of her desire to be an artist late in life (approximately 40) after having a discussion with a friend aboutfinding out whatshe would really like to do. Her friend asked if she felt envious of anyone and she immediately said artists. As a result, she was commissioned to do a piece of art thatbecame her first sale.

Stop by and chat with Katherineand view her work during Art Walk.

In addition, you will discover artwork by several other local artists done in a variety of media including, wood, glass, clay, jewelry and photography.

Raku-firing demonstrations will occur at 5:30 and 7 p.m.

The work of senior art majors, Lisa Greif, Lucas Kruse and Risa Ubagai will be featured in the exhibit “This is the Last Thing You’ll Ever See” at EOU’s Nightingale Gallery. The exhibition will run through May 23.

Greif’s current work employs mixed media to discuss a struggle for authenticity and selfhood in relation to rigid and conflicting social expectations.

Kruse creates stark graphic images that emphasize emotional distance between people.

Ubagai’s work is influenced by the mysteriousness of nature, and the feeling it evokes, especially in the experience of contemplation.

Also on display will be an installation by recent EOU grad Cody Bloom. Bloom’s installation includes a series of drawings with an experimental influence, utilizing photos from friends and source material from scientific interests. The exhibit is designed to explore ideas about human interaction and the circulation of information.

The gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. For more information, call the gallery at 962-3667 or visit www.eou.edu/art/nightingale/nightingalegallery.html .

New at Back to Nature Gallery this month are mixed water media paintings. These vivid florals are a combination of watercolor and extruded acrylic.

The newest oil painting by Linda Elliott, fresh off the easel will also be on display.

The setting is an area between La Grande and Baker City in very early spring. In the background are lingering patches of unmelted snow along a shallow stream that reflects the intense blue of the sky. A single hereford cow stands in the foreground amongst dried reeds and teasel in subtle tones.

Back to Nature, 1617 Fourth St., will offer art and refreshments for Third Thursday Art Walk.